Realtek HD Audio
Speaker settings
Microphone settings
Any device installed on a computer operates using special programs, hardware or system. With their help, the work with equipment is simplified and the ability to control and regulate is provided.
Realtek HD Audio- This special program, designed for audio input/output on a PC. This is a tool necessary to ensure that the sound card installed on a laptop or computer works correctly. Depending on OS, Realtek driver High Definition Audio has both earlier versions, developed for Windows 2000-XP, and later ones, working with Windows 7-10. Used to work with any HD Audio codecs released by Realtek and supports ALC series chips, which are used in the latest motherboards.
Realtek HD Audio Sound Driver for Windows XP, 7, 8, 10
The main advantage of HD Audio is its support for high-resolution audio formats.
- The program has significant features over other codecs:
- The bandwidth is significantly higher, which makes it possible to use a large number of channels with detailed formats;
- Does not use unnecessary resources;
- Supports the latest formats such as DolbyDigitalSurround EX, DTS ES, DVD-Audio;
- Synchronization occurs from a single master oscillator;
- Can be used on multiple devices thanks to multi-stream support;
- Fully supports Audio PlugandPlay;
- Supports the output of multiple sounds when playing online games in voice chats;
- Speech recognition is more accurate thanks to support for a 16-microphone array.
- Testing of the driver through auditory tests and measurements showed that the HD Audio codec is better than other codecs.
Here are the main advantages:
- Two kinds digital connectors: coaxial and optical;
- Great sound;
- Supports 3D sounds.
Realtek HD Audio drivers are in great demand among users, as they support all modern audio formats, as well as high quality playback audio files in the OS, starting with Windows versions 2000 and above. We are also pleased with the accuracy and quality of speech recognition, as well as the audio device input system using PlugandPlay.
If you have problems with sound on your laptop or PC, you need to download and install Realtek High Definition Audio Driver. But before downloading, you need to make sure that the sound output is through the Realtek HD chip. It is recommended to download the driver if you have problems with sound, and also if you need to improve the sound quality.
Probably many people have had such a situation when suddenly and unexpectedly the sound on the computer disappears. And in the turmoil you begin to look for the reason for the loss. You shouldn’t simultaneously check all the wires, restart your computer, search the Internet for new speakers and spare parts, and think that your computer is on fire. Solving the problem can be much simpler, because in most cases it is enough to update the drivers sound card.
Prerequisites for updating audio drivers
If you definitely decide to deal with the problem of no sound on your computer yourself, then let's start with the possible causes of the loss of sound and their solutions.
How to Update Windows 7 Sound Drivers
In order to update drivers in Windows 7, it will take quite a bit of time and a little care. So, we need to get into the “Device Manager”. Quickly right-click on the “My Computer” icon and go to “Properties”. Next, go to the “Hardware” tab and select “Device Manager”. 
We will then be able to see the impressive list of hardware that you have in your computer. Since we have set ourselves the task of updating drivers, we should also change the configuration of the sound device. Select the line with " Sound, video and gaming devices“, in the list that is in front of us, the first number is the sound driver. 
Now, using the right-click context menu, click on “Update driver”. Or double-click on the driver and in the window that opens, click on “Drivers” and then on “Update”. And now, in a new window, we have a choice of two update options. If you do not have ready-made drivers on your computer, then click on “ Automatic search updated drivers." 
The search process will begin immediately suitable drivers to your computer, which will take some time.
If you are on the Internet, your computer could not find necessary drivers, then you will need to install them from the disk that came with the sound card (if you find this disk, of course). There are times when the system did not find anything, and the disk was lost, then you should not get upset and grab valerian, because there is a way out of this situation.
First, we need to find out the model of our sound card. See how to do this. When you find out the model of your card, you will need to go to the developer’s website and download required driver. Then go back to “Update” drivers and click on “ Search for drivers on this computer«.
Then we indicate the place where the drivers are located and the system immediately begins the update process.
How to Update Realtek Sound Drivers
If you have problems installing Realtek drivers on Windows XP, or an error is thrown during the installation process, then let's figure it out together. First, let's clear the platform for installing a new driver. We need to delete everything earlier, or incorrect installed drivers. Let's go to " Start", click " Execute" and enter the command " regedit».
In the window that appears, look for “HDAUDIO” and open the folder “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE” on the left, after it “SYSTEM”, then “CurrentControlSet” and at the very end “Enum”.
In the manager window we must remove the audio device on the HDA bus. It will most likely be highlighted with a yellow exclamation mark. And only now can we install pre-downloaded Realtek drivers.
I hope you were able to restore sound on your computer using one of the methods suggested in this article. The process of updating drivers does not take much time and is not complicated.
Video instructions for updating your sound card
There are quite a few reasons why sound does not work in Windows 8. They can be trivial (speakers are connected incorrectly or the volume is turned down) and serious (sound card malfunction).
It is not possible to immediately determine why there is no sound in Windows 8. The only option is to check all the probable causes one by one, starting from the most banal and then ascending. To make this task easier for you, below are all available methods, how to fix the sound on a laptop with Windows 8. There is nothing complicated here, the main thing is to follow the instructions.
It is necessary to eliminate all trivial errors. So that it doesn’t turn out later that everything is fine with the PC, but the problem was actually something else.
To do this, do the following:
By the way, there are also 2 similar connectors on the front case of the system unit. If you use them, then again, try connecting the wires in a different order.
This definitely needs to be dealt with. Otherwise, as mentioned above, you will waste time, and only then realize that the reason was a broken headphone or a damaged wire.
How to fix sound on a Windows 8 laptop?
So, to restore sound on Windows 8, you need to follow these 6 steps. Let's start with something simple.
Checking the volume
The first thing to do is check the volume. Possibly exposed quiet sound on Windows laptop 8. Or even screwed down. It's banal, but this kind of thing also happens. Perhaps the children were playing around or one of the family members accidentally pressed the wrong button.
To test this hypothesis, click on this icon in the system tray (next to the date and time). Here you can see a scale showing the current volume. If the slider is at the bottom, congratulations, you have found the reason. 
To make it stronger, simply move the slider up. And then turn on the audio player - the problem will probably be solved. If the slider was initially turned on to maximum, then look further.
Driver check
The second thing to do is check the driver for sound. In 90% of cases, the problem is always there (provided that all trivial errors are excluded).
- Click Win+R and write devmgmt.msc.
- Open Sound Devices.
- Double-click Realtek (usually there is only one line here) and view the device status.
Most likely, the device will not work correctly. The presence of a yellow icon indicates that there are problems with the driver. This is why there is no sound on a Windows 8 laptop.
The fix is easy: open the Driver section and click Update. 
A new window will appear with 2 options to choose from - automatic search or manual search.
If you have a disk with drivers for the motherboard, insert it and manually specify the path to it (suitable only for PCs). In other cases, feel free to run an automatic search.
Still no sound? Try uninstalling the driver and then running the automatic search again.
If the system does not find anything, then you will have to update the sound driver for Windows 8 manually. If you have a disk, use it. Laptop owners need to go to the office. manufacturer's website and find the required driver yourself.
Setting up sound in Windows 8
The next thing you need to do is set up sound in Windows 8. To do this:
If the sound does not appear, then select another device. Then the third. In general, find the desired device by elimination.
This is how the setup is done Windows sound 8.
Checking settings in BIOS
Another reason why sound stopped working in Windows 8 may be a disconnection sound card in BIOS. This usually happens when curious newbies change the default settings. 
To check this, open the “Integrated” (for PC) or “Advanced” (for laptops) section and find the High Definition Audio item. Make sure that it is set to Enabled (i.e. turned on).
Service check
The next reason is that you (or someone else) have disabled the service responsible for playing it. To check this:
Troubleshooting
AND last method restore sound on Windows 8 laptop - run troubleshooting services. For this:
- Go to the Control Panel and enter the word “Sound” in the search field.
- Select the item marked in the screenshot.
- A new window will open - click “Next”, wait until Windows finds the problem and offers a way to solve it.
Very often when Windows installation Various problems arise, especially related to sound. Most often, to solve this problem you just need to install sound drivers. They may be on disk, as they should be included with your computer. But if you don’t have a disk, then you need to find out the name of your audio device and download the drivers.
Let's first figure out how to find out the name of the sound device.
If you have drivers installed, but they don’t work as expected, then do the following:
1. Go to the Control Panel.
Click on the “Start” icon 
Here we find “Control Panel” independently or using a search. 
In this window, open “System and Security” 
Select “System”
Or right-click on the Start button icon and select “System”.
Right-click on the Start menu icon and select “System” from the drop-down menu 2. Go to “Device Manager”.
On the left you see "Device Manager" 3. In the window that opens, pay attention to “Sound, gaming and video devices.” This section contains the name of your audio device. IN in this case This is Realtek High Definition Audio.
If you don't have a driver sound or it flew off, then:
1. Right click Click on the “Start” button and select “Run”.
2. Enter in the field dxdiag and click “Ok”.
3. A new window opens. We need to go to the “Sound” tab and look at the name of the audio device.
In the “Sound” tab you can see the name of your device On my computer it is Realtek.
Now all that’s left to do is download the sound drivers and install them on your computer.
Here you can download Realtek for Windows 8 (and for Windows 7). If you don’t know how to download, then see below for instructions on downloading from Depositfiles.
This video will also help you on how to install the Realtek sound driver.
The most common reason why the sound disappears on Windows 8 (8.1) is, perhaps, the usual everyday situation when, while reconnecting the speakers to the system unit of a PC or laptop, the cable plug is mistakenly inserted not into the audio output, but into the connector for connecting a microphone or line input. Or the plug itself does not fit tightly into the audio output after reconnection. Often the reason for the lack of sound is a software error related to the operation of Windows 8 (8.1), in particular, to the operation of the audio driver. Software errors rarely occur by chance; as a rule, the problem is preceded by the user’s intervention in the system sound settings. Or third-party programs installed by him can “successfully” cause problems with sound.
So, the sound disappeared on Windows 8 (8.1). What are the possible causes of this problem? Let's look at them below and try to find solutions.
1. Checking the hardware connection of audio speakers
No matter what type computer device you use, regardless of Windows based 8 (8.1) whether it is working or has another operating system installed on it, the first thing you need to do to solve the problem with missing sound is to check the hardware connection of the audio speakers. You could have pulled out the speaker wire plug yourself and forgotten about it; children or pets could have done this while playing.
Check the tightness of the audio speaker plug connection. The plug must fit snugly into the audio output jack.
Standard sound cards, which are equipped with most motherboards, usually provide an audio output (light green socket), a microphone connector (pink socket) and a line input for recording from external equipment (blue socket). Since all these outputs have a diameter of 3.5 mm, the speaker plug can be easily inserted into one of the adjacent sockets - line input or microphone jack. This often happens when in a hurry or when the connection is made by touch due to laziness to move system unit. The audio input for connecting speakers, we repeat, is a light green socket.
2. Checking the functionality of audio speakers
If everything is in order with the connection of the audio speaker plug, the next possible reason If the sound on the computer disappears, there may be a malfunction of the speakers themselves. Or trivial reason inactive hardware button to turn them on. You can check whether the audio speakers are working properly by connecting other speakers or headphones with a 3.5 mm audio output plug to the computer.
3. Checking the volume level in the system tray
The reason why the sound disappeared on Windows 8 (8.1) may be that the volume level in the system tray (the right side of the taskbar) is set to minimum or the sound is completely turned off. Just as in the case of the possible disconnection of the audio speaker plug, this happens due to the pranks of children or pets, as well as accidental actions of inexperienced users. Click the sound image in the system tray and check the volume level.
4. Problems with the sound card driver
If, while checking all possible hardware reasons why the sound disappeared on Windows 8 (8.1), the problem was not solved, the next step would be to look into the software component, namely the drivers.
4.1. Installing the sound card driver
If the sound card driver is not installed on the computer at all, the volume control icon in the system tray should show no sound. We click on it.
Will start system process troubleshooting.
In the selection window, leave the default speakers (if audio speakers are connected to the computer) and agree to fix the problems by clicking the “Next” button.
When the process is complete, click “Apply this fix.”
4.2. Updating the sound card driver
More often than not the complete absence of a sound card driver, the cause of the problem why the sound disappeared on Windows 8 (8.1) is incorrect work drivers. In this case, the solution may be to update it. To update the sound card driver, we need the system device manager. To do this, we will use the Metro search in Windows 8 (8.1), which appears when you touch the edge of the screen on the right. Enter the request “Device Manager” and start the service.
In the “Sound, gaming and video devices” section, select the High Definition Audio device and call context menu. In the context menu, select “Update drivers”.
A window will appear with a choice of update options. The simplest option for a computer connected to the Internet is, naturally, “Automatic search for updated drivers.” The system will automatically find current version sound card drivers on the Internet.
If your computer is not connected to the Internet, you can update the driver by telling the system where the installer is stored on disk.
4.3. Manually removing the sound card driver and installing it again
If updating the sound card driver does not produce results, the driver can be removed manually and installed again, as indicated in paragraph 4.1. To remove the driver, select the High Definition Audio device in the device manager, call up the context menu and click “Delete”.
5. Enabling the sound card in BIOS
The reason for the lack of sound on the computer may be a disconnection in the BIOS integrated in motherboard sound card. This may be a consequence of interference in BIOS settings inexperienced users. You need to enter the BIOS and check that the integrated sound card parameter “High Definition Audio” (usually these are the “Integrated” or “Advanced” sections) is in the Enabled position.
6. Not running service Windows Audio
The reason why the sound disappeared on Windows 8 (8.1) may be that the Windows Audio system service, which interacts with sound, is not running. It is necessary to check whether it is running or not, and if not, then, accordingly, you need to launch it. By touching the right side of the screen, call up the Metro functionality of Windows 8 (8.1), click search and enter “Administration” in the line. We launch this section of the system.
Open the “Services” section and find the Windows Audio service in it. Ideally, it should have the “Automatic” startup type active.
If this is not the case, click on the line Windows services Audio twice and in the properties window that appears, set the startup type to “Automatic”. To apply changes to the system, click “Apply”.
7. Troubleshooting Windows 8, 8.1
Friends, just like in Windows 7, Windows 8 is available and you can successfully use it to find out the reasons for the lack of sound in your operating system. The third time Let's use the Metro search in Windows 8 (8.1), move the mouse pointer to the edge of the screen on the right, select "Search" and type in "Troubleshooting"
Troubleshoot audio problems
Troubleshooting
The Troubleshooter will then provide a solution to the problem. In our case, the volume of the sound device was reduced and needs to be increased.
8. Reinstall Windows
Reinstalling Windows 8 (8.1) is a radical method of solving sound problems on a computer, and if the sound card itself has failed, naturally, this will not help. Nevertheless, there is a chance to solve the problem in this way. Typically this would be the case in use cases 8 (8.1). Thus, assemblers of modified Windows builds often experiment with cutting out or disabling certain system services, initially making changes to the system settings to adapt the build to specific user needs. For example, for low-power devices or to free up system resources for powerful games. Such actions often lead to the fact that some hardware functionality of the computer refuses to work precisely due to the lack of software adaptation in the system. Ideally, it is better to install so-called clean Windows builds without any third party intervention in the system settings. The site article provides instructions for downloading the Windows 8.1 Enterprise Preview distribution from the TechNet Trial Software Center on the official Microsoft website.
9. Failed sound card
If none of the methods discussed above to solve the problem of why the sound disappeared on Windows 8 (8.1) brought positive results, there is a high probability that the problem lies precisely in the sound card. Lost or poor-quality sound is a sign that the built-in sound card may be faulty. In this case, the computer system unit will have to be equipped with a separately installed sound card with a PCI interface. The issue of installing a separate sound card is discussed in the site article. An alternative for laptop users in case of failure of the sound card integrated into the motherboard is connected via USB.